Marking Period (MP)  & Semester Dates
• Prek & Elementary Semesters: End  6/11/21
• Middle School & High School Marking Periods: End 6/11/21 

The staff and family of five-year-old Danny Stevenson planted a garden outside of Colonial's Early Education Program (CEEP) building to honor his memory. Danny passed away suddenly at the DuPont Children's Hospital on May 27th. Special Education Teacher Marissa Pedicone said, " Danny was a wonderful student who we lost too early.  In his memory, we have planted this garden to remember his beautiful spirit and life on a daily basis." 

State Secretary of Education, Dr. Susan Bunting, stopped by a few schools in Colonial to see how students were thriving in this new learning environment. She visited four schools: Leach, Colwyck, New Castle, and Pleasantville. From learning about vocational programs at Leach, watching baby chicks hatch with some of the best preschoolers ever at Colwyck, and learning some new skills on her own by visiting our Chinese immersion programs, Dr. Bunting was overjoyed seeing students and staff turn these extraordinary circumstances into extraordinary opportunities. 

Students and staff always have a blast on Spirit Days. At Eisenberg Super Hero Day was stupendous, and at Southern, Mix-Match day lived up to its name. Wilbur Wildcats celebrated Wing War Color Day by wearing the colors of the wings their classrooms are assigned to both in-person and virtually. At CEEP, the Little Colonials and staff had a great time with Disney Day, and at New Castle Time Warp Day took everyone back. At McCullough, Star Wars Day was out of this world!

Students in Ms. Ches’ class worked on an informative writing unit on planet Earth that ended with making paper mache globes for Earth Day. What a great way to make learning fun!

Thanks to the Delaware Farm Bureau, students at New Castle received a handmade barn-shaped bookcase filled with books that focus on crops grown in Delaware, such as apples, cranberries, grapes, green beans, peas, spinach, and zucchini. Also included were books on multiple specialty crops, such as “How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?” and “Who Grew My Soup?”  Usually, the program includes in-person guest readers but because of COVID, teachers will be able to make video links to farms where bureau volunteers will read books from farm fields and gardens. Holy cow, that’s really cool!

When a student at Pleasantville Elementary told his teachers he was a fan of Pokemon, they knew it was no joke. His prized collection of cards was something he talked about often. That’s why when the student’s cards were lost, the Power of WE kicked into high gear. After learning about the story, staff from several CSD schools went to work and found ways to help out.  From binders for storage to replacement cards, teachers and staff began restoring the beloved collection.   One generous Pocket Monster enthusiast wanted to share his love of the massively popular trading cards. This donor gave a box full of cards, from rare cards to unopened packs, to a Pokemon lunch box.  Thanks to the Power of We, the cards that were lost have been replaced plus many, many more. 

On April 19th, McCullough Middle School began a school-wide reading initiative called Mustangs Read Together. Led by Mrs. Woo and Mrs. Nowell, everyone in the school will be reading the Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. Each student, both in-person and virtual, will receive a copy of the book and will read along as an entire school through the next month. The students will engage in thoughtful discussions in class, participate in book-related activities, and even be treated to some special guest readers from outside of school. To kickoff, the students were treated to a read along with the author herself for the first chapter. Way to go Mustangs!

State Representative Valerie Longhurst stopped by George Read to promote a new law that will require all middle and high schools to provide free feminine hygiene products next school year in all girls' bathrooms.  The legislation is aimed at putting an end to what is called “period poverty” since many female students miss school because they can’t afford the monthly products they need. The bill was passed unanimously by the General Assembly. Girls at George Read were given a bag of products to take home.

Plans are underway for an in-person graduation ceremony. It’s too soon for details, but click the link below and see if you can guess the venue!

Please encourage any of your students falling behind to attend. William Penn has teachers in all four content areas plus ELL, Spanish, and Engineering that will be available to assist students.  Have students use the link below to sign up. 

Governor Carney and state health officials have eased many COVID restrictions regarding schools. In response, Athletic Director Matt Sabol is issuing the following statement:

“We are excited and thankful to be allowing our student-athletes the ability to perform at their highest levels without the requirement of wearing masks while competing on the field.  With that being said, we also understand the value of wearing masks, and how wearing them throughout the pandemic has resulted in an extremely low number of COVID-19 cases among our student-athletes throughout all three of the sports seasons this year here in Colonial Nation.  We ask that all athletes not on the field of competition, coaches, officials, and all spectators continue to follow the guidelines set by Governor Carney and the DIAA and continue to wear masks on William Penn campus while watching our sporting events.”  

Regular season schedules will conclude next Saturday, May 15th.  Postseasons for baseball, softball, girls soccer, and track will begin the following week.  We wish our Colonial athletes the best of luck as they finish out the season and head into the playoffs.  GO PENN WIN! 

William Penn teacher Michael Doody, Wilbur teacher Joseph Parrett, and McCullough teacher Brittany Zezima Dilworth are among the 54 public school teachers from 16 school districts in nine states and the District of Columbia named as Yale Fellows.  The three Colonial teachers will participate in national seminars and an Intensive Session as part of the Yale Initiative to strengthen public schools. Congrats for representing the best of Colonial Nation!

The month of May means Principal, Teacher,  Para, and Staff Appreciation Days. Every school did something special this year because we have special people supporting our students in Colonial!

National School Lunch Hero Day is tomorrow, but with no food delivery on Friday, Colonial’s Nutrition Services Staff wanted to show off their token of appreciation from Supervisor Paula Angelucci. The workers more than deserve it because throughout the pandemic they dug deep and made certain meals were prepared and delivered for students. So far, more than one million breakfasts and lunches have been delivered on bus routes. Big thanks go out to Colonial’s Super School Lunch Heroes!

Delaware’s Pandemic EBT Program has now been expanded to include children younger than six years of age whose families receive SNAP benefits. To learn more, click the link below:

https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dss/pebt.html